hi ladies! im assuming that you are all ladies here cos its a PCOS part of the forum and guys dont have ovaries!?!
i would like to thank you for having this site where women can discuss issues such as facial hair and other problems that can be caused by PCOS openly and comfortably!
i suffer from facial and body hair caused by PCOS. well, i think the amount of hair that i have is partially my fault because when i was younger, i didnt know that i had polycystic ovaries nad when i started growing random facial hairs i started plucking or shaving them off before anyone could notice. so naturally the hairs now are thicker looking then they would have been if id just let them be, i guess! well im 23 now and i have hairs galore! i think my most gross area is between my puby part (sorry!) and my belly button because ive been shaving it for so many years that it has spread to scary proportions! but i think the area that makes me most upset is the facial hair around my chin and front neck, obviously becasue there is no way of hiding your face. in the winter i wear a scarf continuously but im starting to dread the summer time! i was hoping that someone could advise me on what to do about my facial hair… when i was first diagnosed with PCOS (about 7years ago)the doctor gave me dianete (i think) which i took for over a year but all it did was make me bloated and the facial hair stayed. i was next put on cyproterone acetate, which started to reduce the hair growth after about 6 months but again it made me put on weight and, most devastatingly, i realised that id have to take these tablets for the rest of my life and as soon as id stop taking them, the hair would grow back rapidly. so, not wanting to forever live on pills, i stopped taking them about two years ago and started electrolosis instead. the beautician was excellent.my mum used to go to her for electrolosis and for facials etc and always did a good job. but when i started the treatment, i used to get scars…like little spots and because my skin is very slow healing, they would stay for ages and i felt that having unnatural looking spots around my lower face and neck was just as bad as the hairs, so i stopped the treatment. now, becasue the hairs grow slowly during the winter (yes, its still winter in england!) im plucking them out. but i still have a problem becasue of my sensitive skin, i cause spots and scars. its so depressing now, because this has been going on for years, and im just ruining my skin (the skin had started to become darker and blemished where i pluck) and my face always looks very dull and lifeless.
so, (after all that!!!)could someone tell me if there is anything i can do to prevent spots coming up where i pluck??
i was considering getting epilight treatment buti was worried that because of my condition, the results wouldnt last long. any advise anyone please? there is nothing worse than feeling like a leper in the summer time when everyone else looks happy and healthy. ive tried to explain this to my stupid doctor but he always makes me feel rubbish by telling me that im being vain and that i shouldnt complain because i have my health. i dont think that he understands the pschological effects that its has on us as women living in a society where men and women dont even speak about facial hair on females(unless they are laughing about it) let alone tolerate it. it has damaged my self-esteem and my confidence (which i didnt think was possible) and i just want to start feeling normal again!
phew!! ive finally let it out! thats 5 years of agony let out in one go - sorry sorry about the length of this “message”. i appreciate any comments or advise that you guys can give me… thanks for listening,Cher XXX
Cher,
After reading that I realised just how similar we sound. It was quite scary!! I havent actually been diagonsed as having PCOS but i have all the symptoms of it including the dreaded facial hair. Ive been shaving my neck for a couple of years and at first it seemed okay but up until about 6 months ago, my god I look absolutely awful (well in my opinion i do). Ive been seriously depressed by it for ages and im now taking a step forward and going for my first treatment of electrolysis next week and im soooo excited. I understand that theres a chance it might not work but im willing to give it a try, if it helps my self confidence which at the moment is at an all time low!!
Although i cant offer any professional advice, i will say that your not the only one with the problem and just keep your head up and hold it high, you have nothing to be ashamed of, just remember that!!
hi party chick, thanks so much for the reply!! so soon as well, eh!
i wanted to wish you luck for your electrolysis appointment next week. i hope that you dont worry about it too much. it doesnt really hurt much…its like a little prick on each hair, but i guess that when you want the facial hair removed so much, thats all your concentrating on so you end up not feeling the pain!
but when you come out of the salon with a nice clean neck and face you will feel really happy, so keep it up if you can. the hairs will come back and stuff at first (from my experience)but slowly you will notice a difference.
good luck hon,and thanks again for the message
cher
XXX
Thanks for your reply, Cher!!
Im so determined to get rid of the hairs, its ruining my life and I hate to say it but I feel like a freak. I cant wait to feel a smooth, no shadow face and if its painful, i dont care because it will be soooo worth it when i have a smile on my face. Ive also just been to the doctors and they are organising my ultra sound scan earlier so i’ll also be able to breath a sigh of relief when i finally find out whether i have PCOS and can start getting treated. At last i seem to be getting a hold of the problem.
Thanks again for your calming words.
hi party chick, how are you? have you been for your scan yet? if so, i hope that its been ok…let me know ok?
guess what? i finally got some money coming throuigh so that i can get epilight treatment done! i was wondering if you (or anyone else)knew anything about it because i know that i get regrowth because of the PCOS, but i dunno if eplight will atleast reduce the hair growth. its going to cost me £700 to get the front neck, beard (inc.side burns) and chin done, is that a good price??? its with the hairremoval clinic on harley street, beacuse they are the only doctors that i could find on the internet!
the only thing that i was rrrrrrrreally concerned about it the fact that they siad it works best on stiff hairs and that i would have to SHAVEthe treatment area before hand!! does that sound right to you? i am well worried becasue even tho ive always plucked the hairs ive never shaved and im worried that if treatment doesnt work ill be left with a visible beard! what do you think?
chichi XXXX
Cher, I definately know EXACTLY how you feel… but I am now 33 yrs old and have the scars to show for my years of plucking and ingrown hairs as a result. I have tried everything on the market for the hair removal, and have found the best results with laser hair removal. It can be costly compared to other things such as waxing, but for me it is well worth the price for the self esteem it has brought me!!! Even though I plucked constantly and carried tweezers with me everywhere- just in case a stray hair would pop up, I could feel the hairs and therefore felt everyone could see them and that they were staring at them. I found a wonderful asthetician at a plastic surgeon’s office. I have looked into the prices of this all around and have found that centers that specialize in only hair removal are 2-3 times more in cost!!! That is their primary bussiness. A plastic surgeon’s office rarely advertises and therefore you don’t have to pay for their advertisement. I happened upon this while having a questionable mole removed and biopsied, I noticed a pamphlet in the office and asked about it. You do have to return for 3-4 treatments and some of us PCOS ladies sometimes require a rare 5th. But the results are amazing! With each treatment about 30% of the hairs do not return and the ones that do are not as thick. My first treatment was a little painful because from years of plucking I actually had 3 and 4 hairs growing from many of my follicles! But after that it was not. It was hard not to pluck for the required 6 weeks prior to begining treatments- but knowing there was a light at the end of the tunnel was helpful, and shaving with an electric shaver worked really well. It was such an emotional healing experience for me that I cried uncontrollably while I wrote the check out - and I am not a very emotional person. The staff asked what was wrong and I told them if I had only known how affordable this was I would have had it done years ago! The staff cried too! My asthetician is a wonderfull lady and has told me what I am going to pass on to you. STOP beating yourself up! These hairs grew dark because a hormone stimulated them to grow well before you began plucking and shaving them. It is NOT your fault! plucking can cause multiple hairs to grow within a folicle but shaving did not cause them to grow out of controll.
I am no longer ashamed to talk about my abnormal hair growth- possibley it is much easier to disscuss now that I no longer sport a goatee 
But I pass out Nannette’s business cards on a regular basis and perhaps it is because of that or because she felt so good about her work the day I cried tears of joy in her office, but I now get a very healthy discount on treatments for my unusually dark underarm hairs and legs.
The key is to keep those hormones in check and return for a quick zap as soon as any new hairs are stimulated to grow dark.
Good luck in your endevor!
hi 25Alpha,thnaks so much for your reply. its so encouraging to hear other women’s success stories. when i was younger, i never thought that so many other women had our problem because all my friends had gorgeous flawless skin but i just realised that some people are just good at hiding the imperfections.
ive finally made an appointmant to start my eplilight treatment…and funnily enough when i turned up for my consultaion their was a celebrity in the waiting room, obvioily to get her face done too!!! so there we go, even TV personalities are not facial-hair-problem free!!
so hopefully, it will work. but you were right, they said that because of my condition, i would need to come in for regular touchups, but that it wood not be that often…the beautician also said that the light should also help my skin!! so- fingers crossedXXXXX
Alpha, are you alot happier now with your skin? i bet youlook gorgeous! thanks so much again for replying…and i’ll keep you guys posted on how well eplilight treatment works cheers
cher